3 - (IOP 11) Psychosocial and Cultural Characteristics Predicting Positive and Negative Attitudes Toward Mental Health Services Utilization Among Latino Adults

The underutilization of mental health services (MHS) within Latino communities is a significant contributing factor to their mental health disparities. This underutilization is often driven by fears of deportation, confidentiality breaches, and the lack of culturally competent Spanish-speaking providers (Ramos et al., 2020). Additionally, cultural mismatches between patients and providers can impede treatment engagement, further shaping attitudes toward MHS (Becker et al., 2017). However, the specific psychological (i.e., mental health symptoms), social (i.e., gender, healthcare insurance), and cultural (i.e., cultural values, language proficiency) factors influencing Latinos' attitudes toward MHS utilization remain largely unexplored. To that end, the present study examined how psychosocial and cultural factors were related to Latinos’ attitudes toward MHS utilization. The study leveraged data from 152 Latino adults (Mage = 40.42 [SD=14.15]; 70.4% female; 94.1% born outside the U.S.). Using independent sample t-tests and hierarchical regression models, the present study examined how social (gender, insurance status, and English proficiency), cultural (personalismo, fatalismo, familismo, religiosity), and psychological (anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, alcohol use, drug use, and trauma history) as predictors of Latinos’ attitudes toward MHS utilization. Independent t-tests indicated that females (M = 12.36; SD = 3.08) reported more positive attitudes toward MHS utilization than males (M = 10.82; SD = 4.05) (t = 2.29, p = .025). On the other hand, those with healthcare insurance (M = 8.42; SD = 4.59) reported more negative attitudes toward MHS utilization than those without healthcare insurance (M = 6.66; SD = 4.74) (t = -2.33, p = .021). Results of the hierarchical regression models found that individuals with more significant trauma history had more positive attitudes toward MHS utilization (β = .20, p = .03). In contrast, more alcohol use was associated with a lower positive attitude toward MHS utilization (β = -.27, p = .003). Comparably, more drug use was associated with a lower negative attitude toward MHS utilization (β = -.26, p = .002). Culturally, higher endorsement of familismo was associated with a lower negative attitude toward MHS utilization (β = -.34, p = .001). No other significant relations were found. These findings suggest that there are specific psychosocial and cultural characteristics that influence Latinos' attitudes toward MHS, underscoring the need for culturally sensitive outreach programs to promote MHS use for this community.